ECB's Draghi calls for banking union, economic reforms

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European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi addresses a news conference at the European parliament in Brussels December 17, 2012. REUTERS/Laurent Dubrule

ROME (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called on national governments to deliver economic reforms and complete a banking union, saying the ECB had won time for action by delivering price stability over the past 15 years.

“It is now crucial to complete this agenda at the European and national level,” he said in a speech at a conference in Rome on Tuesday, adding that governments should focus on key reform priorities: “completing the banking union, implementing growth-friendly fiscal consolidation, and structural reforms in labor and product markets”.

Draghi said the ECB had to keep public trust by sticking to its mandate of delivering price stability and dismissed concern that low inflation threatened to pitch Europe into a Japanese-style deflationary cycle.